Sidney senior Jordan Scully, fifth from left, is surrounded by teammates and coaches after surpassing 1,000 career points in a Miami Valley League game against Troy on Saturday in Sidney. Scully reached the mark on a free throw early in the second quarter. She finished with 16 points and has 1,012 career points after Saturday.
Bryant Billing | Sidney Daily News
SIDNEY — Jordan Scully’s roles have changed each year she’s been on Sidney’s girls basketball team. What hasn’t changed is her scoring — and that’s because of her work ethic according to coach Ron Ivey.
Scully surpassed 1,000 career points in a 45-29 victory over Troy on Saturday. She led the squad with 16 points in the victory and now has 1,012 career points.
“I think it’s just been the consistency with doing the extra stuff, coming in before practice and after practice, coming in at practice and always working hard,” Scully, a 5-foot-7 senior guard, said. “And I think all my teammates just encouraged me the whole time too, which helps, and my coaches, they’re all great support for everything.
“… Just having my team with me and having my coaches, they all have my back, they all support me, they have my back no matter what.”
Scully becomes the ninth player in program history to reach 1,000 career points (five players have reached the mark in the last 15 years).
“Any time you see kids get these accolades and accomplishments, a lot of the time, people don’t see the work that goes into it,” Ivey, an assistant coach, said. “She’s a gym rat. She’s been a gym rat probably since she could walk.
“She loves basketball. She’s always in the gym, hours and hours of shooting. You know, even during the season, she’ll stay after and get shots up on the gun.
“So whenever we see girls put that kind of work in and get the accomplishments, I’m so proud of them and happy for them and her. I think she’s a great role model for all the younger Lady Jackets.”
Ivey filled in on Saturday for head coach Jamal Foster, who was out for the second of a two-game suspension after being ejected in a loss to Tippecanoe on Jan. 4. OHSAA rules say coaches are suspended for two games if they receive two technical fouls and are ejected in the same game. Foster came to the school after Saturday’s game was completed and participated in the celebration of Scully’s milestone.
Scully has started since she was a freshman. She averaged 11 points per game her first year, 10.3 as a junior and 14.5 as a junior.
She is averaging a career-best 16.6 points per game this season and has been a steady scorer for the Yellow Jackets despite drawing enormous defensive attention since fellow senior and four-year player Larkyn Vordemark suffered a season-ending injury in the second game.
Scully has scored between 11 and 23 points in each game, including between 15 and 21 points in nine of 12 games.
Scully credited her teammates for playing well, taking the pressure off her and finding her when she has open shots.
“We have players step up every game,” Scully said. “… I’ve been figuring out ways to get through my defenders, get a better shot.”
In addition, Scully has taken over as the team’s point guard. She had played at the position in relief some the last three years but runs point for almost all of each game now.
“This is the hardest she’s ever had to work for buckets,” Ivey said. “Up till this point, we’ve always had a point guard between Lexee (Brewer, a 2023 graduate who now plays at Ohio Northern) and Kiara (Hudgins, a 2024 graduate who is starting as a freshman at Otterbein) to take the pressure away, and she just had to focus on scoring.
“This year, she’s got to do a lot of everything, and I know that she’s exhausted at the end of the game, but from a ball handling perspective, she’s the best option we have, and she’s also got to make buckets, so other teams are aware of that, and they make her work extra hard.
“… She’s had to work harder these last two years, especially after Allie (Stockton) graduated (in 2023), and then this year, with Larkyn going down, she’s had to work really hard, but she’s handled it very, very well.”
Ivey said Scully has stepped up as a leader this year, including on defense. She is averaging a career-best 3.1 steals per game.
“Getting stops on defense helps for our offense,” Scully said. “I just want to do everything I can to help my team. Defense is kind of our main thing. We always try to be active on defense.”
Scully was smothered by Troy in the first quarter and managed two free throws. Senior forward Kelis McNeal took advantage of the Trojans lasering in on Scully and scored nine points in the quarter to help the squad take an 11-0 lead.
“She knocked down shots and she did a great job,” Scully said. “Defensively, she always does her job. She gets us going.”
Scully needed four points to reach the mark and appeared to be closing in on a breakaway layup early in the second quarter after taking pass off a turnover, but a Troy player raced down and clobbered her as she went up for the shot.
Scully made two foul shots to reach the milestone, and the game was stopped for her to be recognized at midcourt.
Sidney outscored the Trojans 12-7 in each the second and third quarters to take a 35-14 lead. Troy finished with a 15-10 advantage in the fourth.
Scully had four assists and four steals. McNeal finished with 12 points and had 10 rebounds, four steals and three blocks.
Jada Shroyer added six points, Bailey McCutchins scored five, Olivia Foy scored four and Peyton Hensley scored two. Kendall Dickman had three rebounds and two steals.
“Kelis got us going, and some of the other girls stepped in and knocked down shots,” Ivey said. “… Our younger players are stepping up. We’re getting their mindset changed for them to be aggressive offensively; we need production from them.”
McNeal had an offensive slump the last three games, and Ivey was happy for her to be able to score early.
“Her getting 10, 12 a game is huge for us. Happy for her today,” Ivey said. “She’s been our other consistent scorer, and when the other girls chip in, we’re in a good place. When we don’t have that happen, we’ve struggled.
“Getting points out of our defense really fuels us, so we need to take advantage of turnovers and finishing.”
McNeal, Vordemark and Dickman have been four-year varsity players with Scully. They were among the teammates, family and friends to pose for pictures with her after the game.
“They mean the world to me,” Scully said of her fellow seniors. “They’re all my best friends. It’s been fun playing with them for six years now, since seventh grade. We’ve been through a lot together. We’re going to finish it out together.”
Saturday’s win was the second straight for the squad after three consecutive losses to Vandalia-Butler, Tippecanoe and Greenville.
Sidney is two games behind Butler and one game behind Stebbins in overall Miami Valley League standings.
“We want to win the MVL outright, that’s still the goal,” Scully said. “Then moving on, go in tournament as far we can. We’ll definitely go into our next (league) games better prepared.
The Yellow Jackets are scheduled to travel to Xenia on Wednesday.
Reach Sidney Daily News editor Bryant Billing at 937-538-4822, or follow @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook or @TopBillingSport on X (Twitter).